The Exorcist Page #7

DR. TANNEY

There's nothing there. No vascular displacement at all. You want

me to run another series?

DR. KLEIN

I don't think so. I'd like you to see her again.

A nurse enters the room.

NURSE:

Excuse me Doctor. Chris MacNeil is on the phone, she says it's

urgent.

DR. KlEIN

Got some time?

DR. TANNEY

Of course.

INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE-DAY

We hear the doorbell ring and Sharon racing down the stairs to

answer it, but no sound could block out Regan's screaming from up

stairs. Sharon opens the door.

SHARON:

Dr. Klein?

DR. KLEIN

Yes I'm Dr. Klein, this is Dr. Tanney.

DR. TANNEY

How do you do?

SHARON:

Hi Sharon, things have gotten worse since we called you, I better

take you up stairs.

DR. KLEIN

Is she having spasms again?

SHARON:

Yes but they've gotten violent.

DR. KLEIN

Did you give her the medication she needed?

SHARON:

Yes.

DR. TANNEY

What was that?

DR. KLEIN

Thorazine. Before that it was Ritalin.

They approach Regan's door. Sharon knocks.

SHARON:

Chris, Doctors.

Chris opens the door.

DR. KLEIN

Mrs. MacNeil, this is Doctor Tanney.

We see Regan is laying on her bed, thrashing her torso against

the mattress and up again.

REGAN:

Mother please! Oh please mother make it stop! It's burning, it's

burning please mother!

CHRIS:

So something please Doctor, Help her!

REGAN:

Make it stop,it really hurts! Mother! Make it...

Regan suddenly growls, her eyes roll back and her throat swells

abnormally. She stands up on the bed.

DR. KLEIN

Alright then Regan, let's see...

Regan back hands Dr. Klein and he flies backward.

CHRIS:

Oh Regan!

REGAN/DEMON

Keep away! The sow is mine!

She pulls up her dress and mimes masturbation.

REGAN/DEMON

F*** me ! F*** Me! F*** me!

She falls back and starts to scream again.

DR. KLEIN

Get my bag!

Sharon grabs Dr. Klein's bag and Karl slaps Regan to stop her

from screaming. Chris screams with horror in reaction to what

she's just seen. Karl and Dr. Tanney hold Regan down as Dr. Klein

prepares a syringe to knock her out.

REGAN:

Stay away from me! Stay away! Mother!

DR. KLEIN

Hold her steady, Hold her tight!

Dr. Klein injects the needle and Sharon takes Chris outside. When

the door is closed, Regan's screaming becomes dead silence.

INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY- DAY

Chris and Sharon sit in the hallway with their heads in hands.

Klein and Tanney exit Regan's room and approach them. Chris

stands.

DR. KLEIN

She's heavily sedated. She'll probably sleep through tomorrow.

CHRIS:

What was going on in there, how could she jump off the bed like

that?

DR. TANNEY

Pathological states can induce abnormal strength, accelerated

motor performance. For example, a ninety-pound women sees her

child pinned under the wheel of a truck, runs out and lifts the

wheels half a foot up off the ground. You know the story, same

thing here. Same principle, I mean.

CHRIS:

So what's wrong with her?

DR. KLEIN

We still think the temporal lobe...

CHRIS:

Oh. What are you talking about for Christ sake! Did you see her

or not? She's acting like a f***ing out of her mind psychotic or

a split personality or...

DR. TANNEY

There haven't been more than a hundred authenticated cases of so-

called split personality, Mrs. MacNeil. Now I know the temptation

is to leap to psychiatry, but any reasonable psychiatrist would

exhaust the somatic possibilities first.

CHRIS:

So what's next?

DR. TANNEY

A pneumoencephelogram, I would think, pin down that lesion. It

will involve another spinal.

CHRIS:

Oh, Christ.

DR. TANNEY

What we missed in the EEG and the arteriogram could conceivably

turn up there. At the least, it would eliminate certain other

possibilities.

INTERIOR- MEDICAL LABORATORY- DAY

We see a piece of heavy machinery swivelling above the camera. We

then see Regan strapped to a table, hooked up to the machine.

She's yelping in pain.

INTERIOR- DR. KLEIN'S OFFICE-DAY

Dr. Klein is looking over the lab reports and seems baffled.

DR. KLEIN

Dr. Tanney says the X-rays are negative. In other words normal.

Chris sighs.

DR. KLEIN

Do you keep any drugs in your house?

CHRIS:

No. Of course not, nothing like that.

DR. KLEIN

Are you sure?

CHRIS:

Well of course I'm sure. I'd tell you. Christ, I don't even smoke

grass.

DR. KLEIN

Are you planning to be home soon? LA, I mean.

CHRIS:

No. I'm building a new house, the old one's been sold. I was

going to take Regan to Europe for a while, after she finished

school here. Why d'you ask?

DR. KLEIN

I think it's time we started looking for a psychiatrist.

INTERIOR- CHRIS' CAR- NIGHT

Angle from driver's seat- 'M' Street and 36th. Through the

windshield, dead ahead, a crowd has gathered by the base of the

steep steps beside the house, and an ambulance is pulling out

into traffic. Police car lights are flashing. As Chris rounds off

the bridge on to Prospect street, the ambulance pulls out and

then gets ahead of her, siren wailing. We follow the ambulance

for two beats.

INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- KITCHEN- NIGHT

The lights are blinking on and off and the phone is ringing.

Chris enters the kitchen and answers the phone.

CHRIS:

(down the phone)

Hello?

But there is no answer. She puts the phone down and wanders

further into the kitchen. The lights are still blinking.

CHRIS:

Sharon?

The lights come back on.

CHRIS:

Shar?

Still no response. Chris exits to the lounge.

INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- SECOND FLOOR HALL- NIGHT

As Chris reaches the landing she halts, her eyes warily scanning

around, then she continues down the hall toward us, and opens the

door to Regan's bedroom.

INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- REGAN'S BEDROOM- NIGHT

There is silence as Chris stands by the door a moment. Chris hugs

herself, shivering from the cold. Regan is sound asleep and

uncovered from the bed sheets. Chris sees that the window is wide

open.

CHRIS:

(whisper)

Sh*t.

Chris moves to the window and closes it, but still feels cold.

She walks to Regan and pulls the covers back over her.

INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- SECOND FLOOR HALL- NIGHT

As Chris exits and softly closes Regan's door. She walks toward

the stairs when we hear the front door close, followed by a call.

SHARON:

(downstairs)

Sharon!

INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- FOYER- NIGHT

Sharon enters with a brown pharmacy bag.

CHRIS:

What the hell do you mean going out and leaving Regan by her

self! What are you kidding her window's wide open...

SHARON:

What didn't he tell you?

CHRIS:

Didn't who tell me?

SHARON:

Burke.

CHRIS:

What's Burke got to do with it?

SHARON:

Well, when I went to get the Thorazine I had him to stay with her

and... Oh, I should of known better.

CHRIS:

Yeah, well I guess you should've.

Chris hangs up her jacket and the doorbell rings.

SHARON:

What did the doctor say?

CHRIS:

We have to start looking for a shrink.

She opens the door. It's the assistant director.

CHRIS:

Hi Chuck, c'mon in.

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